SUNDAY MERCURY WROTEThird placed Alvechurch, with games in hand to overhaul Hereford, were 3-0 winners against Coleshill at Lye Meadow. Connor Deards slotted home a 22nd minute penalty after Jack Cresswell was fouled before Jordan Nadat beat the off-side trap for a second goal on 53 minutes. A stunning passing move led to Leigh Downing adding a third in stoppage time.

While Coleshill are trying to build a squad capable of mounting a challenge for the title, Alvechurch have suddenly found themselves a team that will definitely be in the shake-up at the end of the season. After finishing in 15th place last season, this term Church currently lie in third place but have games in hand on both the teams above.

Coleshill never really looked likely to get anything from this game as they were out-muscled and out-fought by a pumped up home team who screamed, harassed and barracked the referee at every opportunity which resulted in 6 yellow and a red for Coleshill and just two bookings for Alvechurch. Marsh and Nadat both had good chances before the home side took the lead on 22 minutes when Cresswell was fouled in the box by Luke Edwards. Deards scored from the spot. Coleshill rarely troubled the home keeper and Marsh should have increased the lead but his shot hit the foot of the post.

The second half was scrappy but Alvechurch always had the upper hand! Bellis hit a rasping shot just over the bar before ex-Town player Jordan Nadat hit Church's second on 53 minutes. Leon Weller blocked Foster's shot but the rebound fell kindly for Nadat who shot powerfully past Paul Hathaway in the Coleshill goal. Luke Edwards came in with a great challenge to deny March and then Coleshill had their best patch of play when Edwards's shot was blocked, Dean Rathbone was only inches away from a dangerous Reece Leek cross and Luke Barlone headed a corner wide. However, the referee kept booking Town players and eventually one had to take a walk and that was Jesse Race! Alvechurch sensed blood but Coleshill stuck to the task and managed to keep the score down but in the first minute of injury time a sweeping move by Church ended with a Downing shot across goal that evaded Hathaway.

Sublime performance again from Alvechurch as they brushed aside an ultimately dispirited Coleshill side.

A routine 3-0 win for Church as they returned to league action, courtesy of another dominating performance, another clean sheet (the 10th this season), and three well taken scoring opportunities.

Two changes in the starting eleven for Church after last weekend’s Vase success at Wisbech; Jordan Nadat returned to spearhead the attack in place of two-goal Karl Edwards, and Ryan Winwood made way for Richard Huckfield after he served his “suspension” in the Wisbech game.

A heavy pitch added potential spice to a fixture that is usually competitive, sometimes feisty.
Coleshill had won 3-0 in the corresponding fixture last season, but of course the Church side is now unrecognisable from that previous game.

Early chances for March and Nadat in the opening quarter hour bode well for Church. On 6 minutes, a nice through ball from Cresswell found March unmarked inside the Coleshill box. A smart turn and shot forced keeper Hathaway into a full length save to turn the ball around the post. On 14 Nadat squirmed free before delivering a rasping shot that Hathaway had to beat away with both fists.

On 22 the first breakthrough came courtesy of a spot kick converted by Connor Deards. Cresswell won the penalty after latching onto a smart pass from Nadat after the forward had held the ball up well, and as he twisted and turned in the box, he was clipped for an undisputed penalty award.

Nadat was proving to be a real handful, and Jesse Race, returning to Lye Meadow for the first time since his Church departure in the summer, was cautioned on 31 after fouling the Church forward in a chase on goal. This was to prove decisive in the 66th minute when a second challenge on the same player saw Race see red for his second yellow card.
As the half drew to a close, Church were still in the hunt for a second goal, and March almost claimed it on 42 when the ball was worked down the left, and the Church wide-man tracked into the box before rattling the outside of the post with a shot that had Hathaway flapping at thin air.

Half Time : Alvechurch 1 Coleshill 0

Church picked up where they had left off and on 52 Bellis drove just over after great football from Deards and Cresswell down the right flank, but just after, after a corner had only been half cleared, a Foster shot was blocked, and as the ball fell loose, Nadat pounced to lash the ball in from fifteen yards.

Coleshill were finished. And it was merely a matter of when and how many in respect of further goals. Surprisingly, despite Church’s dominance, the third only arrived in the first minute of stoppage time. There had previously been chances for March and Ashton in the final five minutes before this goal as somehow the Coleshill goal further survived. March’s shot was wide of the target, and Ashton’s cannoned of the far post and across the face of the goal before being smuggled away for a corner by Hathaway as Church descended on the visiting goal in waves.

But finally, a mesmerising passing move up the pitch and across the face of the Coleshill box, and Downing applied the decisive finishing touch with a smart low drive through a forest of legs into the far corner from the edge of the box.